Indigenous female artists, much like their non-Indigenous sisters in the larger art world, have historically stood in the shadow of their male counterparts in terms of recognition and accolade for their work, despite having produced equally substantial, critical, and provocative bodies of work.

niigaanikwewag brings together notable works by senior, mid-career, and emerging female Indigenous artists to celebrate past, present, and future generations of kwes as integral to sustaining the creative spirit of Indigenous communities. Foregrounding kinship, the artworks in niigaanikwewag embody and express the blood ties Indigenous women have to each other and to [our] Mother Earth.

niigaanikwewag, which means “leader women” or “they who lead” (feminine, plural) in Anishinaabemowin, positions the female artists included in this curatorial project as leaders within Indigenous art.

niigaanikwewag is a one-year curatorial project bookended by two exhibitions that acknowledges and pays respect to the non-binary feminine creative spirit that continues to birth Indigenous futurities in provocative and meaningful ways.